Metra and U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi are calling for checks on a proposed railroad merger that would bring more freight trains to parts of the Chicago area, saying the merger has the potential to worsen delays along a west suburban commuter rail line.
As the proposed merger stands now — without a series of measures that Metra and Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Schaumburg, say could lessen the effects of increased freight traffic — the rail agency opposes the merger, Metra Executive Director Jim Derwinski said.
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“We’re looking at a post-COVID world here, which means everything is changing. Ridership patterns are changing, patterns of our passengers are changing and therefore we need to be nimble,” Derwinski said Wednesday. “We feel that the merger at this point in time, as applied, does not give Metra a good future.”
Metra and suburban communities along the Milwaukee District West line have repeatedly voiced opposition to the proposed merger, which would combine the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroads in a $31 billion deal.
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In federal filings, Canadian Pacific has disputed that the merger will affect Metra, saying there is enough capacity on the line to handle more trains. A Canadian Pacific spokesman said the agency has been proactively reaching out to communities to address concerns, and federal regulators were “addressing appropriate mitigations.”
The proposal is still under review by the federal Surface Transportation Board but, if approved, it would create the only railroad linking Canada, Mexico and the United States. It would be the first major railroad merger since the 1990s.
It is expected to bring more freight trains to parts of Metra’s Milwaukee District West line, which runs to Schaumburg and Elgin. Metra shares tracks with Canadian Pacific along the line, as it does along the Milwaukee District North line. Canadian Pacific is projecting the merger could add an average of about eight extra freight trains per day to parts of the Milwaukee District West, bringing the total number to an average of just over 11 per day by 2027.
Nine communities, including Itasca, Elgin, Hanover Park and DuPage County, have formed a coalition opposing the merger, saying it would increase delays at rail crossings, congestion, noise and vibrations. That could cause health and safety hazards for residents and pose problems for first responders trying to reach emergencies who find their paths blocked by trains at road crossings, they have said.
The coalition, Metra and Krishnamoorthi have also disputed Canadian Pacific’s estimate of the number of trains that could pass through the Chicago suburbs and questioned the railroad’s modeling. The railroad has said in federal filings that concerns about higher-than-estimated numbers of trains passing through the area are unfounded.
Metra has said the merger could increase delays and exacerbate safety issues for passengers, and on Wednesday commuter rail officials joined Hanover Park Village President Rodney Craig and Krishnamoorthi to highlight concerns about the potential for further delays. They gathered at Chicago Union Station, which is the terminal of the Milwaukee District West line and which is owned by Amtrak, which supports the merger.
Krishnamoorthi’s office made public an analysis of Metra data that it said showed the three daily Canadian Pacific trains now running along the Milwaukee District West line cause delays to Metra trains, including during rush periods. The frequency of delays and the duration of delays increased from 2017 to 2021, according to Krishnamoorthi’s office.
Krishnamoorthi said the delays would likely worsen if the merger moves forward as currently proposed and the number of freight trains traveling along the tracks increases.
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“I can see hundreds of thousands of people who would otherwise take Metra instead prefer to drive downtown, clog our roads, cause detrimental environmental impact and set public transit back by decades in our region,” he said.
A spokesman for Canadian Pacific highlighted Metra data showing 95.7% of Milwaukee District West trains were on time in September — it would have been 96.3% without freight train interference, according to Metra — and that freight train interference accounted for 8% of all Metra delays systemwide.
Krishnamoorthi has called for an additional study of the effects of the rail merger specific to the Chicago area, after a broader draft federal report issued in August found that “apart from train noise, which could result in adverse impacts at some locations, the potential adverse impacts of the Proposed Acquisition would be negligible, minor, and/or temporary.”
“I think (the extra study is) unprecedented, but the negative impact on the Chicago area would be unprecedented by this particular merger,” he said.
He said imposing a set of conditions on the merger could make it more palatable, a request that has been echoed by Metra and the communities along the line. That could include transferring dispatching rights, or the right to control train movement over the tracks, from Canadian Pacific to Metra, which owns the tracks. For the communities along the tracks, separating the tracks from roadways via underpasses or overpasses could also be helpful, he said.
Canadian Pacific has rejected the suggestion that Metra’s conditions should be imposed on the merger, saying in a filing that Metra was using the merger as “a vehicle for addressing a host of perceived pre-existing conditions.”
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The railroad said it has committed to measures like allowing Metra to return to pre-pandemic schedules and reporting on the growth in the number and length of trains, as well as Metra delays caused by freight trains. If delays reach a certain level, the freight railroad proposed following a series of steps to assess and discuss a plan of action with Metra.
But the railroad disagrees with Metra’s request to transfer dispatching rights along the line, saying in a filing, “the conditions Metra seeks are overreaching and would cause public interest harm without any offsetting benefit.”
